Classic of New Orleans: Jordan Spieth & Ryan Palmer team share first-round lead
- Published
Jordan Spieth (left) and partner Ryan Palmer birdied three of the last five holes to share the lead after round one
Classic of New Orleans first-round leaderboard |
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-6 K Stanley (US) & R Ruffels (Aus), J Spieth (US) & Palmer (US); -5 K.J Choi (Kor) & C Wi (Kor), B Martin (US) & B Crane (US), J Blixt (Swe) & C Smith (Aus) |
Selected others: -3 G Ogilvy (Aus) & I Poulter (Eng); -1 J Day (Aus) & R Fowler (US); E J Rose (Eng) & H Stenson (Swe) |
Americans Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer combined for a first-round six-under 66 to share the lead at the revamped New Orleans Classic team event.
Spieth birdied the final hole to lift the duo alongside Australian Ryan Ruffels and American Kyle Stanley.
The event changed to a team format this year with 80 pairs competing.
They play foursomes (alternate shots with the same ball) in the first and third rounds and fourballs (playing your own ball) in the other two rounds.
Stanley, whose lone PGA victory came at the 2012 Phoenix Open, and 18-year-old Ruffels reeled off four consecutive birdies to begin their round before also shooting 66.
England's Ian Poulter, who lost his PGA tour card last week, carded a three-under-par 69 with Australian Geoff Ogilvy, to sit in an eight-way-tie for 11th place.
Olympic champion Justin Rose, playing with the man he beat in Rio, Open winner Henrik Stenson of Sweden, carded an opening round of 72.
How the format works |
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Foursomes: Teams of two compete with one ball per team, taking alternate shots until the hole is completed. |
Better ball: Each player has their own ball, and the team's lowest score on each hole counts. |
The Professional Golf Association (PGA) is trying to create renewed interest in the sport by introducing varied tournament formats.
The Classic of New Orleans is an official counting tournament for the rankings worth $7.1m (£5.5m) and has attracted six of the world's top 10 players to the TPC Louisiana course.